The availability and accessibility of data storage are essential concerns for any IT business. The traditional use of direct-attached disks within individual servers can be a simple option. However, it would not suit the new requirements of organization, flexibility and control demanded by modern enterprise IT. These needs led to the emergence of the SAN storage network. However, like any IT hardware, it can experience issues that can lead to the loss of the company’s sensitive data and information. What is a SAN server and how can data be recovered from it in the event of loss?
What is a SAN server?
A SAN server or Storage Area Network is a networked storage server accessible to multiple servers or computers, providing a shared pool of storage space. It meets the advanced storage demands of businesses by providing a high-performance storage system that interconnects a multitude of servers to a range of storage devices. It also allows file sharing between multiple computers on the network. Each computer on the network can thus access the storage data on the SAN as if it were local hard drives directly connected to the computer. It performs better than a NAS server and can bring together tens of terabytes on its own.
The Storage Area Network makes it possible to:
- Improve application availability
- Improve application performance (for example, by improving storage processing offload functions)
- Increase storage utilization and efficiency, i.e. consolidate storage resources and provide tiered storage
- Strengthen data protection and security.
What causes data loss on a SAN server?
Storage Area Networks represent about two thirds of the total network storage server market. They are designed to remove single points of failure and can easily withstand multiple component or device failures. However, like any type of server, they can fail, regardless of the quality of their components or the impressiveness of their configuration. Data loss on this type of server can be caused by:
- The failure of one or more hard drives in RAID systems
- Faulty operating systems or software: SAN systems include servers, storage media, network switches and numerous cables. Physical defects in any of these components can interrupt service, sometimes causing the entire system to shut down.
- Mechanical failures (clicking or humming) in the drives
- Virus or malware attacks
- System crashes
- Accidental deletion of data or formatting of a NAS network attached storage volume
- Physical damage (fire, water, smoke, etc.)
- Power surges
- Software issues or incompatibilities between applications
Whatever the cause of your hardware failure and data loss, it is entirely possible to recover the data. Even in the case of physical damage such as fire, it may be possible to recover your data from damaged drives.
How to recover data on a Storage Area Network?
Most network storage systems contain more than one hard drive, often in a RAID configuration, and constitute a full-fledged computer with its own operating system. The failure of a hard drive or even one of the computer’s components can prevent your IT department from recovering the data due to the non-standard operating system.
A Storage Area Network rarely experiences a complete system failure. If one of the causes mentioned above occurs within the system, it will fully affect the storage system. Such unexpected failures can result in data becoming inaccessible or even data loss. This can lead to the complete paralysis of the business or organization.
Faced with such a situation, the first thing to do is above all not to panic, since it is possible to recover your data. Next, it is strongly discouraged to try to recover it yourself. If you do, you risk losing it permanently. The right approach is to call on expert help. And what better than to use the services of Chronodisk, one of the French leaders in data recovery. Over 15 years of activity, they have built up a high level of expertise in recovery from RAID, SAN or NAS servers.
Whatever the failure or breakdown, Chronodisk’s data recovery services help your business recover the valuable information on all your SAN storage servers. Using proprietary data extraction technology, Chronodisk’s lab engineers will be able to recover the data you need quickly and securely.
If you need to recover sensitive information stored on your SAN server, book an appointment and benefit from the excellent expertise of the company’s engineers.